Loom shuttle binder

ABSTRACT

A loom shuttle binder having a body portion formed entirely of compressed laminated wood. Metal and non-metal attachment components are eliminated from the binder and conventional cushioning materials may be used on the side of the binder next to the shuttle, if desired.

United States Patent Travis 1 Oct. 17, 1972 [54] LOOM SHUTTLE BINDER 3,020,187 2/1962 Ferran ..l39/l57 UK [72] Inventor: Charles F. Travis; Greenville, SC. 3l72429 3/1965 Egbert [73] Assignee: Tranoco, Inc., Travelers Rest, SC. FOREIGN PATENTS Q APPLICATIONS 22 d: M rch 11 1971 991,362 6/195i France 139/157 1 a 286,059 5/1931 Italy ..139/1s7 [21] Appl. No.: 123,203

Primary Examiner-James Kee Chi 52' vs. C] ..139/1ss h- [51] lnt.Cl....' ..D03d 49/54 57 A CT [58] Field of Search..... ..139/l85l87, 157 v 8 RA a A loom shuttle binder havinga body portion formed [56] References Cited entirely of compressed laminated wood. Metal and non-metal attachment components are eliminated UNITED STATES PATENTS from the binder and conventional cushioning materials 3,225,793 12/1965 Huffman, Jr. et al "139/185 fif g sf the We h the Shut 3,559,696 2/1971 Huffman, Jr. et al ..139/185 2,470,506 5/1949 Lundstrom ..l 39/157 '2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEBIJBI 11 I912 INVENTDR CHARLES F. TRAVIS LOOM SHUTTLE BINDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the prior art, numerous attempts have been made to provide wooden loom shuttle binders which are strong enough to resist failure or premature splitting at the critical wear points. In furtherance of this aim of strengthening and protecting the hardwood binders, metal cuffs, rivets, screws, hardened fiber tabs, nylon bushings, dowels, and leather facings as well as other accessory parts have customarily been employed. The use of these accessories on the wooden shuttle binders and their installation and replacement is quite expensive and materially increases the cost of the finished product. Additionally, the installation of some of these attachments can be self-defeating as where nails, rivets or screws are required, because this sometimes results in fracturing or splitting the wooden body portion of the binder.

Ideally, a shuttle binder formed entirely of wood without the aforementioned accessories would be most economical and would render manufacturing of the binders much less complicated. However, in its natural state, no hardwood has been found which is strong enough to withstand the inevitable wear and pounding during loom operation without such reinforcements and accessories. Consequently, all manufacturers today have designed the wooden shuttle binders in such a manner as to require some, if not all, of the above-mentioned accessories. The objective of this invention is, therefore, to provide a satisfactory wooden shuttle binder which will meet the strength and wear requirements of the industry without the need of any of the attachments and accessories, whether formed of metal, plastic, or other materials, with the exception of the customary binder leather and cushioning strip on the side of the binder which contacts the shuttle directly.

According to the invention, it has been possible to construct a shuttle binder which is made solely from laminated hardwood, such as hickory, which has been compressed to a required specific gravity for adequate strength and resistance to wear during use. In practice, the thin natural wood laminations or veneers are compressed to a specific gravity of at least 0.95 kg/cdm and in the range of 0.95 to 1.4 kg/cdm. Loom shuttle binders so constructed require none of the reinforcements mentioned above and give entirely satisfactory operation on the loom. The entire wooden body of the binder is compressed to the required uniform density, rather than mere local regions subject to wear. This is advantageous because it produces a binder of uniform weight and elasticity, resulting in improved boxing of the shuttle with fewer adjustments. It is well known that conventional wooden binders formed of natural untreated hardwoods will vary considerably in weight and elasticity. The weight may vary as much as 25 to 30 per cent depending on the species and grade of the wood employed. The compressed laminated binder, according to the invention, entirely eliminates these variables.

To control the specific gravity of the binder, the natural wood veneers are weighed prior to compression. By using thin veneer (generally between 1 mm and 5 mm in thickness), the specific gravity can be closely regulated. The specific gravity, size and weight of the finished binder blank is predetermined initially. After applying any good commercial resin to the veneers to serve as a binder, the: veneers are weighed and then are compressed to produce the blank. Although the number of veneers will not be the same in each blank, the density or weight will be the same, thus achieving uniform performance in the finished product.

When the compressed laminated wooden blank is thus completed having acontrolled specific gravity and weight, it is merely'necessary to machine the blank for the reception of the usual eccentric stud and the cushioning strip on the side of the binder next to the shuttle. To compensate for the absence of the customary hard fiber tab or plate at the point where the adjusting screw for the dagger finger strikes the back side of the binder, additional thickness is provided, on the wooden body portion, either locally or along the full length of the binder, -in some cases. Because of these dimensional changes in the wooden body portion, care must be taken to locate the hole for the eccentric stud at the proper point. The additional wood thickness along the back side of the binder in amount equal to the thickness of the usual reinforcing tab simply adds to the strength of the binder without changing its function.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIGURES FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional loom shuttle binder manufactured in accordance with the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a similar view of abinder made from compressed laminated wood according to the invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the binder in FIG. 2 on a reduced scale.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged transverse vertical section taken on line 44 of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawings wherein like numerals designate like parts, and referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown in this figure a prior art shuttle binder having a body portion 10 formed of untreated natural hardwood, such as hickory. Near one end, the binder body portion is bored to receive a bushing 11 generally formed of nylon. This bushing receives the well-known eccentric stud, not shown. In order to reinforce the end of the binder adjacent to the bushing 11, a metal cuff or strap 12 is applied around such end. and secured by a rivet 13 or the like. At the opposite end of the binder and on its back side is located a hardened fiber reinforcing tab 14 which is adjacent the adjusting screw for the well known dagger finger, not shown. This wear-resistant tab or pad is customarily applied to the wooden binder with nails 15, as shown. The added expense of these attachments and the difficulties in manufacturing, as well as the likelihood of splitting the wood, have already been fully discussed. Some binders further employ added attachments, such as dowels, screws and plastic parts, and the present illustration in FIG. 1 is for a single well known type of conventional binder. The

usual leather strip 16 on the side of the binder facing the shuttle is also indicated in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 illustrate the improved shuttle binder formed of laminated compressed wood, as previously described. The individual wooden laminations or veneers 17 bonded together with a suitable resin and compressed to a specific gravity of between 0.95 kg/cdm and 1.4 kg/cdm are shown stacked so that their major faces are in planes perpendicular to the wear face of the binder covered by the binder leather 18. This binder leather may be backed up by a cushioning strip 19 of cork or the like seated in a machined recess 20 in the compressed laminated wooden binder body 21.

As shown, the thickness of the binder from the front side carrying the leather 18 to the rear side is increased to compensate for the absence of the tab 14. That is to say, this additional thickness is added to the rear side of the binder along its full length. This adds to the strength of the binder and, coupled with the fact that the .laminations 17 lie in planes normal to the wear face 18,

the binder is extremely rigid.

An opening 22 is formed in the binder perpendicular to the major faces of the laminations l7 and this opening is located accurately with respect to the rear face 23 of the binder so as to mount properly on the loom. The opening 22 is smaller than the customary opening which receives the bushing 11 and no such bushing is required with the invention. Instead the eccentric stud, not shown, is received directly in the opening 22 and the dense compressed wood is capable of supporting the stud and providing an adequate bearing surface which will resist wear without any lining or bushing. Likewise, the opposite end portion of the binder in the region where the tab 14 is customarily placed will resist wear caused by the dagger finger adjusting screw. In fact, the entire binder body portion formed of laminated compressed wood has uniform density, as stated, and is uniformly strong and wear-resistant throughout its length and on all surfaces. For this reason, there is no need for the metal cuff l2 and other customary attachments, as previously explained.

Since the opening 22 is smaller than customary in the prior art, the surrounding end portion of the binder is rendered even stronger. Since there is no necessity for inserting rivets, screws or nails in the wood, the full strength of the structure is maintained and there is no likelihood of splitting or otherwise weakening the binder. The absence ofthe customary metal and nonmetal parts and accessories reduces the cost of manufacturing and maintenance and renders manufacturing considerably simpler. The finished article itself made in accordance with the invention is obviously a great deal simpler than the prior art and yet more satisfactory in operation. The advantages which the improved binder offers over the prior art should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, without the necessity for further description herein.

While the element 18 has been described as formed of leather, it is to be understood that various other known types of wear-resistant strips or facings may be employed next to the shuttle. Additionally, while the improved shuttle binder has been illustrated to include a recessed cushioning element 19, it should be clearly understood that the invention is not limited to this and the compressed wood binder may be manufactured without cushioning material when desirable. When the cushioning material is employed, the increased thickness of the binder on the rear side, occasioned by omitting the tab 14, offsets the slight weakening effect caused by recessing the forward side to receive the cushiq in element.

Whde tfie laminations 17 or veneers have been illustrated and described with their major faces perpendicular to the wear face of the binder, it should be pointed out that it is not intended to limit the invention to this particular arrangement and it has been found that the binder will be satisfactory when the laminations are arranged with their major faces parallel to the wear face or arranged at other angles thereto.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A loom shuttle binder comprising a binder body portion formed in itsentirety from a multiplicity of carefully selected and accurately preweighed thin hardwood veneer strips each having a thickness in the range of 1-5 mm., said thin veneer strips stacked so that their major area surfaces are in contacting superposed relationship and arranged normal to the side face of the shuttle binder which is exposed to shuttle impact during use, said thin veneer strips being adhesively bonded with resin over their entire contacting faces and compressed to form a substantially homogenous mass of uniform density in the range of 0.95l.4 kg/cdm over the entire binder body portion, whereby said entire body portion has imparted to it a closely controlled predetermined weight and density substantially in excess of the normal density of the natural hardwood employed, thus enabling the densified wood binder to be employed on a loom without any of the usual metallic and plastic strengthening and wear-resisting at tachments.

2. The structure of claim 1, and said thin veneer strips formed of hickory and having an average thickness of about 2 mm. 

1. A loom shuttle binder comprising a binder body portion formed in its entirety from a multiplicity of carefully selected and accurately preweighed thin hardwood veneer strips each having a thickness in the range of 1-5 mm., said thin veneer strips stacked so that their major area surfaces are in contacting superposed relationship and arranged normal to the side face of the shuttle bInder which is exposed to shuttle impact during use, said thin veneer strips being adhesively bonded with resin over their entire contacting faces and compressed to form a substantially homogenous mass of uniform density in the range of 0.95-1.4 kg/cdm over the entire binder body portion, whereby said entire body portion has imparted to it a closely controlled predetermined weight and density substantially in excess of the normal density of the natural hardwood employed, thus enabling the densified wood binder to be employed on a loom without any of the usual metallic and plastic strengthening and wear-resisting attachments.
 2. The structure of claim 1, and said thin veneer strips formed of hickory and having an average thickness of about 2 mm. 